The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus, botanically known as Hibiscus rose-sinensis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Whirl Wind.
The new Hibiscus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new freely-branching Hibiscus cultivars with uniform and compact plant habit appropriate for container production, early and uniform flowering, numerous flowers per lateral branch, desirable flower color, resistance to flower bud abscission, and good postproduction longevity.
The new Hibiscus origninated from a cross made by the Inventor in Alva, Fla., of the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar Waikiki, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,834, as the female, or seed, parent with the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar Florida Sunset, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Whirl Wind was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla., on Oct. 13, 1995.
Compared to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Waikiki, plants of the new Hibiscus have smaller flowers and flower several days earlier. In addition, plants of the new Hibiscus have bi-colored flowers, that is, dark pink petals with a pale pink picotee margin, whereas plants of the cultivar Waikiki are solid pink. Plants of new Hibiscus are much more uniform in plant habit; have darker green, thicker and more attractive leaves; produces more flowers per plant per day; and differ in flower color compared to plants of the male parent, the cultivar Florida Sunset.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hibiscus by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla., has shown that the unique features of this new Hibiscus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.